"Decent FPS, not the best, but very enjoyable"

Let me start saying I really like the Call of Duty series. Everyone thinks that these games are like a copy and paste of each other, and that they sell a map pack each year. They're incorrect. Here's why:

Story:The story in Black Ops 2, is not like a direct continuation of the first Black Ops. Yes, we have the same old characters we used back in the day, except that in this time were in 2025. The story starts with David Mason, son of Alex Mason, interrogating Frank Woods about a serial murderer. The story can be considered the generic first person shooter story: there's a bad guy, so he kills a lot of people, you try to kill him a couple of times but you fail in all of them, and until the very end you kill him, and the world is at peace. Yes, this game's story is like that. What makes this unique is that in some missions, you play in the past, in Woods' memories, with old guns, and our fellow characters from the first Black Ops. Now, in the present, you're actually trying to find this...serial killer, looking for information about him and how you can stop him, and you discover why he became a bad person. The story can get you in your toes at times, but other times it feels like you already know what's going to happen. What makes this campaign unique, is that the story is not linear. Your actions can change the story, and depending on your action is which ending you get. It's very entertaining to play through the campaign taking different decisions just to see a different ending, it was a great addition to this game. Overall, it's a good campaign, generic, but the addition of alternative decision adds to the replay value.

Story: 9/10

Gameplay:The gameplay is the same as every other CoD, more actually like any other FPS. You go around shooting people, completing your objective. I think that's all I can say about the campaign, it's kind of generic. Now I'm going to talk about Zombies. Black Ops II Zombies offers a new game mode: Tranzit. You're in a devasted world, right after Richtofen shoots those missiles from the moon. They thought they finished with the Zombie Plague by destroying the world. They failed. Now, you need to survive, like in the normal Zombie Maps, only that in Tranzit, it's 5 maps connected all together, making a huge zombie map. The challenge this mode offers is high, something the past zombie maps didn't have. You can also play Classic Survival in one of Tranzit's mini-maps. It's very fun and addictive, but the only complain I have is that the individual maps are too small, instead of creating another map, they opted for just making some of Tranzit places' individual maps, and that's kind of lazy from Treyarch's part. Overall, Zombies is very fun and addictive, but maps like Ascension from the first Black Ops would be very appreciated as future DLC. Now I'm going on to the Multiplayer. The MP is the same as ever, you level up by killing people, and when you reach the max level, you prestige. What makes the game addictive is that you don't only level up yourself, you level up your guns. For unlocking attachments, you need to level up your weapon. Leveling up each weapon for unlocking all attachments and completing the challenges for camos is kind of fun and very addictive. I find this Multiplayer much more fun to play than last year's Modern Warfare 3. Overall, the multiplayer is fun and addictive, even if it's incredibly repetitive.

Gameplay: 9/10

GraphicsThe graphics really upgraded from the last Treyarch installment, the guns now actually look realistic even if they are futuristic. The guns actually look like real guns, giving you a feeling of reality, not like the first Black Ops, where weapons looked like toys. Everything looks very polished and the game runs smooth. I don't have much to say about the graphics, they're simply excellent for the year.

Graphics: 10/10

Sound/MusicThe soundtrack in the game is very well composed. Every situation has it's own music, that makes you merge with the game and make you feel like you're actually living it. The gun sounds sound more realistic this time. Overall, the soundtrack is awesome, and the gun sounds are enjoyable.

Sound/Music: 10/10

Replay ValueThe replay value in normal FPS are really low. In Black Ops II it actually isn't. The campaign is very enjoyable, replaying it with different decisions feels like playing it for the first time. The Multiplayer is an awesome time-killer if you don't have anything to do, it's very fun and you won't need to wait much for finding a lobby. Zombies may be challenging, but trying to beat your own records, or other people's records can actually get you come back to this game a lot of time even when you finished everything. Overall, the game is very addictive, and you sure need to have this in your collection.

Replay Value: 10/10

Buy, Rent, or Pass?Definitively, it's a buy. You will have hours and hours of fun with all this game has to offers. Don't let this awesome game pass by, it's very worth the $60.